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Marcos Ambrose has equalled his best qualifying performance of the season and will start from third position in the final race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, after a sensation performance in qualifying today.
“We’re really pleased as a team with our efforts here today,” said Ambrose,
“I didn’t know how I was going to stack up this weekend. This track was a real challenge for me last season.”
Ambrose was fortunate to have a late qualifying draw.
“Going out later in qualifying definitely helped,” said Ambrose.
“If we would have gone out early - maybe with the first 10 cars - Scott Speed (second place getter) and I probably wouldn’t be up here right now. Some tracks it doesn’t matter so much. When the sun starts going down here and it cools off obviously the lap times are faster at this track.”
As Ambrose was finishing up his post-qualifying interviews, polesitter Jimmie Johnson patted him on the back on his way into the media centre. At that moment, Ambrose reiterated that Johnson is deserving of his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
“Jimmie Johnson has a halo bar around his car,” said Ambrose.
“He has been consistent all year and is well deserving of his fourth championship. I think he has to finish 25th or better to clinch it on Sunday. I know that I don’t want to be the guy that ruins his chance. He clearly deserves it. He has dominated the last four years. I will be following him into Turn 1 with a safe distance behind him - kind of like the interstate (highway) rule.
“With Jimmy, he has been able to avoid mistakes. You can see like the disaster that happened to him at Texas (Motor Speedway), how easily that can come undone. You don’t want to be the guy that does that to him. He’s not going to do it on his own. He’s so talented. It’s not that we don’t race him. If I can pass him, I’m going to pass him. You just have to treat everybody with respect as I hope the same courtesy is given to me.”
Ambrose’s effort in the # Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes entry of JTG Daugherty Racing matched his career-best starting position that occurred at Infineon Raceway in June where he also finished third.
Scott Speed, who needed to qualify in on time and had the advantage of going out last, snatched second place from Ambrose in the closing stages of qualifying. Mark Martin was fourth and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five starting order.
For Ambrose, his season has somewhat exceeded his JTG Daugherty Racing team’s expectations as they currently sit 18th in the championship standings with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
The Australian driver knows there are no guarantees in this business, but he feels his JTG Daugherty Racing team will be able to build a strong case for a spot in the Chase in 2010.
